Italy calls for common European defence after Brussels attacks

Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi called Tuesday (22 March) for a “European pact for freedom and security” following the attacks in Brussels claimed by the Islamic State group that killed around 35 people.

“Today they hit Belgium, but they also hit the capital of the European Union,” Renzi said in a speech, vowing that “it will take months, perhaps years, but we will beat them”.

“This is not the time for jackals, but nor is it the time for doves. We need a European pact, a pact for freedom and security,” he said, referring to those who used the explosions as an opportunity to attack the EU or simply urge peace.

The European Union needs its own army to face up to Russia and other threats, as well as to restore the bloc’s standing around the world, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told a German newspaper yesterday (8 March).

“Europe must go all the way this time. We must invest in a common security and defence structure,” he said, adding that the debate over defence integration has been raging since 1954, when a plan to form a European Defence Community (EDC) with a pan-Europe military fell through.

Further attempts have been thwarted by traditional “NATO-first” reflexes, a lack of political will, conservative defence industry policies and fragmentation of military cooperation, according to the European Political Strategy Centre.

“The security services must work together, and better together, with constant, timely and continuous cooperation,” Renzi said, adding that “Italy unfortunately has experience to offer” — a reference to Mafia and Red Brigades violence.

The battle against “a threat that is global but killers which are local” should be fought “with security forces but also primary school teachers… if we are to save the next generation,” he said.

EXCLUSIVE / Centre-right leaders will greenlight a plan to move towards an EU defence union at the European People’s Party congress in Madrid next week, EURACTIV.com has learned.

Belgium locked down its capital, also home to the headquarters of the European Union and NATO, and imposed its highest level of security alert after the explosions.

The fact that extremists were able to hit high-profile targets in Brussels, Europe’s symbolic capital, just months after IS jihadists killed 130 people in Paris, raised fresh questions about the continent’s ability to cope with the terror threat.

Trump has already declared that “Nato is a waste of money”… and that “they should take care of things themselves”. Either way, the time that Europe could rely on the US for it’s security is simply coming to an end. A wise politician will act before a crisis drops on top of him, and our politicians need to wisen up, fast.

The E.U. on this modern times CAN and should rely on itself as if it was once in the past modern times of the history and not on anymore on NATO or bend the knees again on the U.S. like Trump wants to rely on their “security” ! He said ” I will America make great again” But isn’t it ? How I laugh …
Clear for Trump to say this on its own interests and that means , the dominance only by the U.S. !
We are Europeans and know clearly the Vietnam times are over .

What Trump means is that it is time European countries paid their fair share instead of sponging off the USA. He is absolutely right. That does not mean the EU needs to start duplicating NATO. It means only that EU countries need to contribute more.

A common EU defence force or NATO has nothing to do with internal terrorism. This is a disgraceful use of the horror of the Brussels attacks to further an unrelated political goal. To use this in such an opportunistic way is disgusting.

We have had to deal with terrorists for many decades. The only block to dealing with this cancer is the loony lefty liberal human rights defenders in Europe that put terrorists rights ahead of the citizens in the street minding their own business. We need to be listening to peoples phones, reading their emails & tracking them & then serving them some extra judicial justice if that is what it takes to get rid of them. Find out where they come from, track their families & their families families & send in the cruise missiles, that like it or not will focus their minds. Go into their houses at the dead of night & remove them from society if they are in our own communities & place them in penal colonies on an island in the middle of nowhere without any communication with the world, return them to the stone age!

Wow, at least 15 who think its ok to use the deaths of so many innocent people in such a cynical way. One of the largest negative votes I’ve seen on this site, you should be ashamed to support such a thing. At least it tells me about the audience here and I gladly say goodbye to it.

Odd that in another article on this site you crisis UKIP for blaming Brussels & EU dogma for the attack without allowing comments but you do allow pro EU fanatics to use mass murder of the innocent to further the political goals of the EU, disgusting .

In fact we need the European Pact !! Where is it !? It had to be done long ago before the civilian war began in Syria !! Who did the work to tackle in Syria ? Russians and Americans and some little Airstrikes by Europeans ! Whilst ISIS was and is operating hiddenly everywhere and financed by whom ever then E.U. had to send tons of Typhoons targeting them from the beginning of the rise of ISIS and not now ! Lots of fanatics caliphate tribes even fanatics Saudis wants not only Europe but America decimating the Christianism because it’s a religion war and clearly nothing else ! The lack to work together in a Unit makes intelligent research from wherever fanatics operate even more painful . Alert 3 and Terrorists blasts 2 Bombs killing innocents !? Who was prepared ? No-one ! Surprised? Everyone !
The E.U. has to move on together and not away ! Without a federal E.U. border department it even can’t work as it should nor control as it should !
The E.U. on alert 4 should begin find IS operating targets and ram them down with airstrikes and troops without to fear them in a way – don’t finance them nor give gun to them but bomb them and take targets per surprise ! E.U. Inaction will may us surprise again rather than surprise them an that means for the E.U. Governors sharing the will of power on the next level !

In fact what we need is not so much a European army but integration of security forces including ordinary police, and a rulebook for them all. The French police shouldn’t have to go to a Belgian court to get an extradition of Abesalam to France, he should just get handed over. In addition we need a central command over armed forces. This body would be able to coordinate responses to all threats, whether on the Russian border, Artic, Bulgaria the Medi or whereever. It’s only Europeans who fuss over their borders, outsiders don’t care how they get around and will use whatever situation they find to their advantage.

You already have central control. It’s called NATO. All it needs is for EU countries, with one or two exceptions, to contribute their fair share instead of sponging off America. Intelligence work can be coordinated through Interpol if you choose to do so. There is no need for all this to be duplicated by the EU and it is not what the EU should be doing.

Nato isn’t anymore the driving force for security nowadays ! Today useless and a relict of the cold war !
The E.U. better and thus for security and defense reason has to share in a unit for a lot of things rather than to rely on Nato .
The E.U. would be much more effectively without going deeply in details .

“This is not the time for jackals, but nor is it the time for doves. We need a European pact, a pact for freedom and security,” he said, referring to those who used the explosions as an opportunity to attack the EU or simply urge peace.”
We also need leaders who are prepared to eliminate the threat ruthlessly not corpulent fools emulating Mussolini and espousing ever closer union.

The terrorist attacks in Brussels are evidence of the failed policy of integration and, lately, the policy on refugees. Multiculturalism has ended up with massacre. The recent agreements with Turkey are disastrous. It is quite clear that Angela Merkel had made some secret deal with Ankara before extending her absurd invitation: come here, we can manage! The present day killings of Kurds in Turkey are very much like the Armenian genocide carried out a century ago; Brussels – the EU capital, has become the scene of deadly blasts. What we can do in such instances is to express our sympathies with the families and friends of the victims, to grieve for the dead, but also to clearly declare: a policy involving such consequences is no good! Let’s say it in words and petitions now lest our children should have to speak by means of weapons in the future.https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Petko_Simeonov_citizens_of_Sofia_We_citizens_of_the_European_Union_are_opposed_to_Turkey_blackmailing_EU/?cIFBhbb

Very muddled thinking here. An Army is not the best response to counter terrorism. Insurgency, open warfare yes but not terrorism which is a matter for civilian police and civilian intelligence agencies. In any case the controlling principle of armed forces in democracies is that only the state may legally bear arms. Therefore the use of armed force must always be subject to national government control. The EU is not a state. Allowing it to direct the use of armed force would be extremely dangerous. The EU already has EUROGENDFOR modelled on the French Gendarms. That is quite enough. As for intelligence sharing, anyone who has actually been involved will tell you the security of intelligence is the first priority and the fundamental tool to ensure that is compartmentalisation. What EU-philes are calling for is an EU wide open network that fundamentally breaks this principle. It would leak like a sieve and be completely untrustworthy. It is foolhardy in the extreme.